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墨書 Inktalez
The lights dimmed, and the auditorium fell silent. The large screen lit up, playing stirring music alongside a promotional video for the school. My heart pounded in my chest, each beat resonating painfully against my eardrums.
The representative of the outstanding students finished speaking to thunderous applause. Wang Yan stepped onto the stage, his usual serious expression adorned with an unmistakable hint of pride today.
“Next, let us witness the remarkable achievements of our school's Excellence Talent Incubation Program!” His voice boomed as he vigorously gestured toward the screen.
A photo of Chen Shuo appeared on the screen, taken after he ranked in the top ten of his class. He wore a standard smile, but his eyes were hollow. Just then—
The image jolted! Chen Shuo's official photo was replaced by a close-up shot taken recently in the classroom, his gaze even more vacant and his cheeks significantly gaunter.
The camera slowly panned down to focus on Chen Shuo himself, sitting rigidly in the front row. He stared blankly ahead, showing no reaction to his surroundings. The stark contrast between the image on the screen and the living person below was jarring.
A subtle stir rippled through the audience.
Then, Chen Shuo's suppressed monologue, tinged with a sobbing tone, echoed from the speakers, filling the entire auditorium: “...They say that only by forgetting oneself can one remember all the exam points... My paintbrush... what color is it...”
His anguished whimpers intensified the unrest in the crowd. Suddenly—
“Erase memory! Obey commands!”
The sharp, inhuman mechanical voice exploded forth, cold and repetitive, sending chills down everyone’s spine!
The screen switched again, magnifying a yellowed fragment of the Qingyuan Project document to its extreme, especially highlighting the crudely crossed-out “Side Effect Monitoring” and the flamboyant annotations beside it reading “Efficiency First, Risks Controllable,” glaringly red.
Following that was a distorted voice of a child’s nightmarish mumblings provided by Grandfather Sun, rapidly interspersed: “Erase... Format... Obey... Silence...”
Finally, the screen went dark, and a line of white text appeared:
"I am Zhou Ran, and I am also forgetting. Who will be next?"
Silence.
Absolute silence.
A few seconds later, the crowd erupted like a boiling pot, buzzing with noise and chaos! Screams, discussions, and the sound of camera shutters created a cacophony.
Wang Yan's face instantly turned ashen. He rushed to the edge of the stage, shouting hoarsely towards the backstage, "Shut it down! Turn it off! Who did this?!"
But it was too late. I saw reporters in the front row holding up their phones, their cameras aimed directly at the big screen.
The principal tried to grab the microphone to restore order, but his voice was completely drowned out by the uproar of the crowd.
Wang Yan suddenly turned around, his eyes red with fury fixed on me. He pointed a finger at my nose, his voice twisted with anger, " Zhou Ran! You're slandering me! You're insane!"
At that moment, I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me, and everything in front of me began to warp.
Wang Yan's grotesque face distorted in my vision.
The surrounding sounds became distant and distorted.
I pressed my hands against my head, letting out a painful groan as my body staggered, nearly collapsing.
I wanted to argue back, to say I wasn't crazy, but my tongue felt tied in knots; the words came out fragmented and incoherent: "I... didn't... it's... them..."
This "immediate" "breakdown" seemed to validate Wang Yan's accusations.
Some people who had initially looked on with sympathy and curiosity now showed signs of doubt and confusion.
"Look! He admits it himself!" Wang Yan seized the opportunity and shouted even louder, "Everything he says is nonsense! Our 'Excellence Talent Incubation Program' uses only safe medications! It's scientifically supported!"
As soon as he said that, he realized he had misspoken, and his expression grew even darker.
In the midst of the chaos, two security guards rushed over, one on each side, roughly grabbing my arms and dragging me away.
As I was pulled through the crowd, I caught a glimpse of something white out of the corner of my eye—something flying in from an unknown direction that gently and almost silently landed at my feet.
It was a crumpled piece of waste paper.
It bounced slightly on the ground before being trampled by the panicking crowd, disappearing from sight.
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